


Entangled

by Sk3tch



Category: Lumberjanes
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Canon-Typical Violence, Caught in a Snare, DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE, Fluff and Angst, Happy ending rest assured, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22641190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sk3tch/pseuds/Sk3tch
Summary: A raccoon rescue goes awry after Molly follows Bubbles and strange flora deep into uncharted territory. The things inside the woods are the least of her worries, however, when she becomes stranded, injured, and seriously doubting her place at camp.
Relationships: Mal/Molly (Lumberjanes)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Entangled

**Author's Note:**

> No TW that I can think of. But if you come across any do let me know, and I will make a note of them accordingly.

Maybe she should turn back. No, Molly thought, she knew she should turn back, and get the others before heading any deeper into the woods by herself. She should, but she knew she wasn’t going to. Not with Bubbles missing and the day just on the cusp of becoming night. She refused to leave him out here alone. The others would be along soon, and she felt sure they’d be able to understand the note she’d left and catch up.

It shouldn’t be too hard, she mused while reaching a hand out to tap some tree growth at chest level, they only had to follow the glowing mushrooms and they’d find her and, fingers crossed, Bubbles too.

Looking back not for the first time, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw the illuminated toadstools were still glowing lazily along the path she had created. As long as those kept it up, she’d be fine. _They’d_ be fine, she amended, they’d both be fine and back for s’more’s and Jen’s ‘Gogh and Gaze’ starry night constellation locating badge workshop. Mal and Ripley were the only two left to earn it, and didn’t really need the rest of the Roanokes there, but moral support was important. Friendship to the Max! And besides, a night of stargazing with Mal while wrapped up in a cozy blanket? Molly couldn’t think of a better way to spend an evening at camp, not lately anyway.

It was one of a few things that were giving her strength to get through this week, actually.

Due to Rosie’s lax attitude when it came to their adventuring around, they had never really had any punishments for their dangerous daring-do. She seemed more impressed than anything, while Jen complained her blood pressure had risen by at least 10 points just during the first week of counseling. She seemed better now, since it was all kind of becoming routine, but there were still a couple close calls that made them all entertain Jen’s idea of adventuring closer to camp. As it was, they had been neglecting their duties for picking up around the camp, and Jen had finally been able to guilt trip them into finishing their cabin’s tasks for the week. She’d also been able to guilt them into taking care of the other cabins’ duties that week, since they had all picked up the Roanoke’s slack and done their tasks in addition to their own the last few weeks. It really was only fair.

Unfortunately, the extent to just how much work that was, had been underestimated by all of them. Their best course of action, to Molly’s dismay, had been to split up and conquer all of their tasks separately. Surprisingly they had made great progress throughout the week, and miraculously, figured they would be able to have everything done tonight, eventually regrouping for what felt like the first time in forever to chill during the free time before Jen’s presentation. That obviously wasn’t going to happen now, Molly thought with a snort. 

The time had already been getting a little late, before this current escapade, so it wasn’t entirely her and Bubbles’ fault, but she still felt a little guilty. Maybe if she had tried to be a little faster and less thorough, she and Bubbles would have finished before the mushrooms started glowing. Then they wouldn’t have investigated, and could have been with their friends having fun instead.

She and Bubbles were out by the edge of the moose stable putting the last of Jeremy’s old bedding into a compost bin when Molly first noticed the glowing fungi. A bright fluorescent pink glow was coming from the usually dull red and non-glowing specimen. She pointed it out to Bubbles, who in turn jumped off her shoulders to really look at it. Sniffing the air thoughtfully he paused before sticking his nose close enough to nearly touch it.

A second later he sneezed, bopping it with his nose and the color changed to an aqua color. Bubbles then swatted at it twice with a paw and it became a zany lime green before going back to its recently acquired neon pink radiance. Without warning, Bubbles let out a second sneeze, a short growl, and then took off at full gallop along the quasi-trail the mushrooms seemed to be forming. Without hesitating, Molly had run back to the stable to grab the emergency bow and arrow set off the wall and raced back to the spot where Bubbles had dashed off into the woods. She drew an arrow in the dirt next to the mushroom, and signed her initials next to it. Letting out a deep breath, she then hopped the brush line and starting trekking over the natural obstacles of rocks and branches determined to find her friend.

The rest of her cabin knew they were both over here, and in any other situation she would never just leave them without a more detailed note or having spoken to one of them first, but... time seemed of the essence. Bubble’s reaction was too strange, it was entirely out of character from anything she’d seen him do before, and that worried her. In the time that she had known Bubbles, she had never known him to up and take off like that. And the growling? He hadn’t growled at her, but at something further into the woods, at something Molly couldn’t see. She didn’t know if he was chasing an old friend, or acting as a protector for her, but if he got hurt because of her lack of action Molly knew she would never be able to forgive herself. There was no other choice to make but to go after him.

Once the others regrouped and realized Molly wasn’t among them, she was sure they’d relocate to her last cleaning assignment and find her clue. Then they’d come find her and help search for Bubbles. Idly, she wondered what Mal would think of her quick rescue plan, if she would find it genius or mediocre.

She shook that thought out of her head quickly, however, to concentrate on finding Bubbles. Although, she paused, it had given her an idea to further guide the rest of her cabin.

To ensure they followed her trail, she stopped to tap a glowing mushroom every few steps with the end of the bow, changing it to lime green, to indicate which way she went as she ventured deeper into the forest. Which, as she looked around after five minutes, felt like quite a bit farther than her and her friends had been in this direction. Uncharted territory wasn’t as much fun when you were by yourself, but she kept going regardless, keeping all senses on high alert.

Molly picked her way along like this for a solid ten or twenty minutes, glad for her inspiring idea every time she came to a place where the mushrooms would split paths, veering this way or that and she could tap her direction accordingly.

It wasn’t too hard to figure out which way she should take, as several of the mushrooms had been inadvertently trampled by what she assumed had been Bubble’s eagerness to follow a scent. That, and his little prints could easily be picked out on the ground. The moss and grass from the start of her trek had thinned out, eventually becoming mud and rocks, making the impressions stick out. But, as Molly kept an eye on the tracks, she felt herself frown.

The single set of paw prints that were obviously raccoon, had at one point joined another set of tracks, resembling another forest critter like Bubbles, but bigger. And, she decided bending down to get a better look at a particularly well-made impression, something with large claws that tore deep into the ground.

There appeared more and more overlap of the prints the further she went, both sets of tracks seeming to scrabble and claw and jump, the bigger set always in the lead. It made Molly concerned, but since there weren’t any signs of foul play that Bubbles might be hurt, she tried not to dwell on too many possibilities. Molly found she was usually wrong anyway, whenever she assumed things.

A few minute more and Molly had to stop short. Looking around slowly, she had followed the tracks until they emptied out of the forest and into a small clearing. There were a few thick shrubs lining it, but for the most part it was rocks, dirt, and a blanket of pine needles in a space just shy of ten feet. She felt her curiosity rise when she took a step further in and saw trinkets arranged all around the forest floor. Playing cards, spoons, scrunchies, a key chain with a unicorn riding a unicycle, you name it… it was like a bizarre real life I-Spy book before her eyes.

There was a pile of disheveled pine needles in front of her with various sports equipment and Molly reached down to poke a tennis ball when her hand froze. Just a foot or so to the left of it, blending into a pile of craft ribbons, the little bow Barney had made for Bubbles yesterday sat without its raccoon wearer. Suddenly she was aware the tracks that lead her into this treeless opening were no longer visible, from either her friend or the unknown animal he must have caught up with.

A rustling broke her concentration and she dropped Bubble’s adornment she had subconsciously picked up. Again on high alert, Molly felt the prickle of eyes watching her now, and had the bow loaded and drawn in an instant. It was more to intimidate than actually wound, she didn’t want to hurt anyone, she just wanted to find Bubbles and get out of here.

Well, part of her also wanted to find out what the deal was with this little clearing and the collection of odds and ends that it contained. But not right now. Maybe another time Molly could find out, when she had her cabin mates to back her up, and Bubbles. Then they could come back with a plan to investigate, and help out if it was needed. She didn’t know, maybe it was all a-

Something to her right darted between bushes and Molly took a left side step to keep whatever it could be in front of her. If something had surprised Bubbles while he’d no doubt been occupied with the mysterious piles of junk, it would explain the patch of disturbed needles and the misplaced ribbon. Molly couldn’t let the same thing happen to her if she was going to be of any help to Bubbles.

Whatever the critter was, it jumped between bushes again, closer this time. It forced Molly to take a step backward to give her enough room to keep her stance correct. But that didn’t matter; she’d gotten a look at the creature when it ducked into the greenery. Where it huddled now, she could almost make out its profile among the thick leaves and illuminating mushrooms.

It was a small creature, roughly the same size as Bubbles maybe a bit bigger, with a short white pelt and small horns. Its oversized ears made it look like a silly stuffed animal that would be better suited for sitting on a bed rather than tromping through the forest. But Molly knew a cute exterior didn’t mean it was harmless, or that danger couldn’t lurk just below the adorable countenance. Bubbles was still missing, after all…

There!

The flash of white moved again, and Molly saw the animal peek back at her through the far side of the bushes. She could just make out where its eyes were and held eye contact with it as she lowered her weapon just a bit to speak slow and calmly. What if it was just as nervous as Molly? After all, it was Bubbles who had given chase to whatever it was in the first place.

“Um, hi there buddy. I don’t want to hurt you,” she shifted the bow in a shrug, “I’m just looking for my friend. Have you seen him? He’s a raccoon?” She didn’t know if she actually expected an answer back from the small critter, but it didn’t hurt to try. It, they, could be something like the bear woman, or the selkies for all she knew; a shapeshifter of sorts, but still with a working knowledge of the English language.

As she talked, however, it just continued to stare blankly at her and she felt like she was talking to an actual stuffed toy, the way it met her gaze without blinking and didn’t answer back… or move. It could be a ploy to get Molly to lower her defenses, but she got the impression it didn’t understand a darn thing she was saying. As such, she let out a huff and tried her hardest not to let the disappointment show on her face. She tried for a final time, not expecting anything to change, but needing to say it regardless.

“He’s a little smaller than you, goes by Bubbles?”

An answer, however, did come when she mentioned Bubbles’ name, just not from where she expected.

Above her, the unmistakable chirp of her raccoon friend filtered down from the canopy, and for a split second, Molly’s focus wavered, her eyes jumping from the creature before her, skyward toward the distressed answer to her question. In the span of that second, she took another step back and everything around her changed. If only, she would think later, it had been because of an interdimensional portal. THAT she could have dealt with.

As it was, the source of her world upending was not a magical portal to some otherworld forgotten by time, it wasn’t anything magical at all. Whipping Molly through the air, knocking her into several tree branches along the way and ripping the bow and arrow out of her hand as well as the quiver off her back, a snare encircling her ankle finally stopped with a sharp snap and she bounced to a stop above the canopy.

Gritting her teeth at the instant pain, she took a deep breath in to keep from yelling out. Or rather, she gulped down as deep a breath as she could while hanging upside down. With each exhale, the rational side of her brain came back through the fog of pain her ankle was giving her, and she took in her surroundings.

Molly looked down, but the branches were too dense to see through. So much for signaling for help, she thought. She couldn’t even tell how high up she was, but she knew it must be pretty high. When she had stood below just a moment before, she had thought the tall ceiling of pine needles was kind of pretty with wisps of the sunset filtering through it. Those ‘ceilings’ had been at least 10 feet above her, and now she thought they might be twice that below her, maybe even thrice. The new information made her heart beat a little faster, but she tried to stay calm. The more she knew about her surroundings could help her; and slowly, due to the leftover inertia as she rotated, Molly found, despite the worsening situation, a reason to smile.

“So that’s where you went.” Bubbles trilled with sheepish admittance and cocked his head in question at her, as if to ask ‘how’d we end up like this?’ Around his foot was a similar snare to the one around Molly’s, albeit much smaller. Subconsciously she tucked the hem of her shirt into her shorts and thought.

“Can you reach it?” He blinked, considering her question, but remained quiet. “Probably not, huh?” Bubbles scrubbed a hand over his face and Molly took it as a sign of defeated shame. If he could reach the rope holding him in place, she reasoned, he probably would have untied it or chewed through it already. Hmmm…

“How about this,” She said thinking out loud and tucking more of her shirt into her shorts to keep it from riding up her front, “if you swing over, I bet I could get you out of there.” The trajectory seemed like it _could_ work…

“Yeah, let’s try that. Bubbles, come here!” At her command and beckoning hands, he started to shimmy and sway until he was swinging and she finally caught hold of an outstretched paw. They were both a bit sweaty from the effort, but it worked! Soon, Molly hoped, they would both be right side up and back at camp.

Her original plan was to get a hold of Bubbles and just untie the line holding him. Unfortunately the loop of the snare was just out of Molly’s reach too. She found, however, that if she supported Bubbles’ weight, he was able to extend his reach a little more and untie himself. Once his hind leg was free, they watched as the rope slithered out of sight and fell with a gentle _thwop_ somewhere below. Good riddance.

But Bubbles escape didn’t end there.

Because he’d been upside down for so long before Molly got to him, she held onto his front paws and let him hang right side up for a bit so he could get his bearings. After a slow few minutes in which she blew hair out of her eyes to look down at him, and they spun lazy circles in the air, he tugged on her shirtsleeve and climbed cautiously up her arm to settle a bit awkwardly against her ribs, using her armpit as a foothold. 

He paused and Molly thought he still looked a little drained as he panted. She had no doubt the blood rush to his head had made him dizzy and disoriented, she was already starting to feel it herself. In fact, the tiny but firm grasp of Bubbles’ paws scaling her shorts made her snap her eyes wide open. She couldn’t remember shutting them, but with how fuzzy her head was feeling, she must have, just for a second there.

“Bubbles, no!” The crafty fiend looked down at his friend and stilled where he had perched on the rope and had both paws holding the section around her ankle in place while his muzzle was poised to chew through the tether. She didn’t see him cock his head however, as she couldn’t get past the sight of her aching joint. Maybe it was the blood rush to her head or the likely concussion, but her ankle looked worse than a few minutes ago. She was fairly certain she had strained it for sure, but now seeing the odd angle it was twisted, and the dark coloring radiating outward from under the rope, she wondered if the injury might be worse than she initially thought.

A tug on her sock got her attention and she looked up at her friend. “Sorry Bubbles, consciousness, y’know?” She shrugged but got no response from him. Instead, Bubbles put a paw back onto the rope holding her and she sighed. “I know, I’d like you to, but if you untie it, I don’t think I could catch myself on the way down,” she yawned loudly, “and it’s a long way down. Even if I could grab a branch halfway, I’m not sure I could crawl down it the way my ankle is. We’re gonna need some help with this... As much as I don’t want to split up again, I think you should go back and find the others, they’ll know what to do.”

Bubbles chirped in a tone of unhappy acknowledgment and patted a paw over her calf gently before jumping to the nearest tree and scurrying down **.** Out of habit, she went to brush the hair that usually framed her face behind her ears for the umpteenth time and sighed, what a day. Although, she mused, all things considered this still wasn’t the worst day she’d had at camp. And, being suspended maybe 40 feet up in the air with a possible broken ankle… that was saying something.

Wiggling her fingers and, begrudgingly the toes on both feet, wincing a bit, Molly thought about trying to swing herself over to a tree branch. Remembering the exertion it had taken Bubbles however, and how tired she had been after he did most of the work made her decide to forget the attempt. It wouldn’t do to potentially hurt herself any worse when she knew April and Jo, and Mal, and Rip were probably on their way already. She just had to find something else to dwell on to pass the time.

Which, finding something to think about other than getting down, was definitely easier said than done. Since she was exhausted, no matter what she tried Molly couldn’t stop her brain from picturing burrowing into her warm blankets and drifting off while Ripley’s snores filled the cabin. It was impossible to think of anything else, and honestly, a nap sounded perfect right now.

Blinking heavy lids slowly, Molly wished Jo was there. She knew tons of stuff about science, and she also knew a bunch about medical stuff too. Molly had never had a concussion before, but she knew sleep was a thing people always talked about with them. She just couldn’t remember if it was a bad thing, or if she should be trying to sleep. Jo would know. Maybe when she woke up she would….

NO! She yelled at herself and opened her eyes. She gave herself a none to friendly pat on the cheek and shook her head.

Despite her attempts to shock herself awake, she yawned again. Molly didn’t want to fall asleep, she wanted to stay vigilant for her friends! But her eyelids felt so heavy. She let them close once more and sighed. She didn’t have a watch on her, but with the way the sky had turned from a dusky pink to a very near indigo, she knew it had to be an hour at least since Bubbles had left to find the others, maybe longer. Things weren’t looking great.

At least, she thought as she felt herself spin as a warm breeze swept through, she didn’t need to worry about the creature Bubbles had chased out here.

The critter must have scampered off when she went flying up because Molly hadn’t seen or heard anything from down below, or in any of the tree branches around her. Even if she did, there was really nothing she could do about it other than to try to dissuade it with her voice. And trying to communicate hadn’t exactly gone so well before. No, all she could do was wait, eventually Bubbles would return with the others and they’d get some late night hot cocoa while she iced her poor ankle. Yeah, she thought, that sounded nice, and maybe a hug from Mal.

Yeah, yeah…

* * *

Molly heard her name, but it was fuzzy. Like, if she had shoved a wad of cotton balls into her ears. Molly could tell someone was next to her, several people actually. They sounded worried, she thought, as she drifted back asleep, but then she felt her body being upended and groggily began to bat at whoever was moving her. Her blows didn’t appear to have any real strength in them however, and the movement kept going until she could feel all the blood draining from her face and into her feet. She suddenly felt ten times heavier, but also more awake than she had been ten seconds previously.

As the sleepiness left her and her senses started to come back, the voices that had been little more than muffled buzzing became more distinct and she jerked forward into full consciousness, almost pitching herself right off of the tree branch she was being precariously balanced on. It took a second to adjust to the low light level, but the lantern in front of her threw enough light for her to see the whole picture in front of her immediately.

April, Jo, Ripley, and Bubbles all looked at her with concern, and when Molly looked behind her she saw Mal acting as a sort of cushion keeping her sitting upright. She blushed when she realized it was Mal’s arms locked around her waist that had kept her from falling. She tried to sit up to give Mal a reprieve from being a human pillow, but when Molly tried to move, her arms buckled and her vision got a little swimmy. Reluctantly, she accepted the help, and the embarrassment of having her friend support her wobbly weight.

“Whoa, easy Molls,” Mal said from behind her and Molly shrugged.

“Yeah,” she responded and winced at her raspy voice, “guess I’m kind of a noodle. Oof.” The blood that had gone to her head was making its quick rush downward noticeable in a big way, and Molly grabbed her head. Her limbs still felt way too heavy, so it was a weird combination. Part of her felt so weak and limp, but the other parts felt like a bag of bricks that had been dragged through cement, heavy and weighted. Every movement was agonizingly slow.

“I bet! Just take it slow for now, Jen already knows we’re out here and she’s sending reinforcements.”

“Yeah! Jen has this covered!” Molly turned from April to Ripley’s confidant faces and smiled.

“Thanks. Yeah, I don’t think I can take it anything but slow for now.” Bubbles, who had been perched on Ripley’s head jumped over and crawled to sit on top of Molly’s stomach. He looked up at her with eyes she thought looked apologetic and she gave him a scratch on the chin.

“Thanks for getting everyone Bubbles. I knew they’d find me if I sent the best scouter to lead the search party.” He chirped at her praise, but still seemed concerned. He crawled down to her ankle and laid a paw on it, looking back at her. She looked at her ankle with this better vantage point and felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. One of the others had already wrapped it with Rip’s long-sleeve flannel and some sturdy looking pieces of bark, but the intense colors of her skin peeking above the field bandage were too vibrant to be considered healthy.

“That doesn’t look great.” The other’s eyes traveled down and they all grimaced.

“No, it wasn’t very pretty, but it didn’t feel broken so it might just be a bad sprain,” Jo said while subconsciously swinging her legs, “what worries me more is your head. It’s got some color too, so I imagine you hit it kinda hard on your way up.” Molly instinctively put a tentative finger over the spot Jo indicated and winced.

“I think I crashed through some branches. No, wait! Yeah, they knocked the archery gear I borrowed from the stables right out of my hands and off my back.” Molly worried her lip, she really hoped she hadn’t broken them.

“Yeah, we found them in the clearing below. We, well Rip, was walking over to grab them when she almost set off another snare. That paired with Bubbles’ insistence that we climb, made it pretty clear where you must be. We radioed back to camp and told Jen.” Molly looked behind her to see Mal’s smile as she held up a walkie talkie, and she felt herself relax. She felt a little more stable so she ventured sitting up. When she didn’t topple over immediately, Mal let her go and Molly balanced by herself, leaning over to look at her ankle closer.

If Jo said it didn’t seem broken, she was keen to believe her. However, even if it wasn’t broken, she didn’t know how she was going to get down from this lofty getaway.

“As happy as I am to see you guys, I don’t know what we’re going to do now. I’m not sure I can even climb like this, and,” she said looking around them in at the darkening skies, “now you two are going to miss getting your badge!” Molly didn’t seem to have control over her emotions, maybe it was the stress of the entire situation, but she could feel the tears start to well in her eyes so she hastily swiped at them.

“Hey, it’s all right,” Mal reassured her with a warm hand that began to rub circles into her back, “the stars might just come out tomorrow you know. We’ve got all summer.”

“I mean, I guess,” Molly knew Mal’s reasoning was sound, but she still felt bad about it.

“No, really, it’ll be fine Molly,” April seconded. “Besides, it’s actually gonna be a good thing! Err, well, y’know, for the other Lumberjanes? Sorry Molly! I mean…” She held up her hands and Molly looked confused between her and Jo who had started shaking her head.

“What April meant to say is Jen called off her ‘Gogh and Gaze’ session. Instead, the head of Stonehenge cabin, y’know Erica, is going to lead a-” at that moment however, Jo’s words were interrupted by the very same women she was talking about, poking her head up through a nearby tree branch.

“Ah, there you are scout. Ooh, gnarly looking injury, but don’t worry we’ll have you down in a jiff!” Her head disappeared and Molly felt disoriented not from her ordeal, but from the swiftness of that exchange. She was starting to doubt it had even occurred, maybe she was hallucinating and instead of her friends and the counselor talking to her, she was imagining it all. But before she could even open her mouth to ask, Erica was back with her headlamp illuminating the group again.

“Ah ha, thought that was where I set them! I just need to put my clips up there, and I think we should be ready to go soon.” With that, she kept climbing and vanished into the darkness above them, trailing a rope behind her.

“Um?” Molly turned to Mal, and could see the toothy grin shining on her face.

“We might not be getting our ‘Gogh and Gaze’ badge, but Erica is going to teach everyone the ‘Outzip Mother Nature’ badge.”

“The… what?”

“It’s part of the outdoor survival program.” Mal stated, “Y’know, probably something we should have looked into on the second day.” She shrugged and Molly smiled.

“Yeah, it’s going to be funnn!” Ripley yelled, bouncing on her branch. Molly stared warily at her but again didn’t have time to say anything as several other scouts started appearing through the thick tree branches. Several had headlamps or flashlights and waved at the Roanoke cabin before climbing farther up. For five minutes, the flow of scouts passing them was constant until another minute later it slowed down and finally seemed to stop.

“Okay… so wha-”

“READY DOWN BELOW!” Erica’s voice cut through the dense foliage a second before two of the scouts who had previously passed them came flying down through the top. Molly listened to their cries of glee before they ended in loud laughter at what must be the bottom of the trees. Then, slowly, the rope was pulled back up and another pair came crashing through. Although the speed at which they were traveling made Molly sweat a little, every scout that came down seemed to have a smile on their face and having fun.

Eventually, the rope came up, but instead of another group of scouts coming down Erica slid seamlessly into the space where the Roanoke cabin was waiting.

“Alright girls, shall we?” She hopped off of what appeared to be an intricately tied rope and onto a nearby branch gracefully. Molly, still unsure of just what exactly was going on, stared at her blankly as Ripley chanted an eager ‘YES!’ over and over. Erica must have seen the confusion on Molly’s face and explained what she was doing. The ‘Outzip Mother Nature’ badge, as Molly would learn, was one of five badges in a collection, all about using the natural elements around you during an emergency to facilitate rescue or escape.

“So I demonstrated above how to find the right sort of branch for a conscious emergency rappel, but since one of yours is injured I’ll forgo it and give you a demonstration in the morning where you can all practice. All of the knots I believe you already know from your time helping Seafarin’ Karen, so I won’t go over those. Just know you need to have at least three bowlines to secure the injured extremity, another bowline to act as an elbow stabilizer, two semi-clove half hitches where th-”

Molly listened and nodded like the rest of her cabin. Once Erica explained the contraption and how to measure the amount of rope, and when this type of maneuver would be most helpful, it made sense. Did it make her less nervous about being suspended from a rope a second time today? No. But as this was going to be a buddy type maneuver, and Mal called dibs to be her partner, she felt a little bit better. The ride down they took was a little slower since, unlike the other groups, one of them was actually injured. Which for Molly, who held an arm around Mal the whole way down, was just as well.

When they touched down and helped Erica dislodge the rig, Jo gladly offered a second shoulder for her to lean on as they hobbled out of the woods. They all chatted about the mushrooms, and the strange collectibles shrine, and even speculated on the odd little creature Molly told them about; making plans to come back as soon as Molly’s ankle was looked at and deemed good as new. Jen gave them all big hugs when they got back to the cabin and had mugs of cocoa waiting for them, breaking the rules by having food in the cabin, but willing to bend them just this once.

Rosie stopped by to personally inspect the injury, and after a quick assessment, determined it to be a sprain, but a particularly severe one. She rewrapped it with actual medical supplies, and told Molly to stop by the nurses station before breakfast to see about some ice packs for the week. Rosie didn’t seem to notice the mugs of hot cocoa, even when she lifted one out of her way to set the large first aid kit on the edge of the bed. Although, maybe she did, since she winked when she put the mug back after removing the bag.

Either way, Molly was just glad Rosie wasn’t angry, or talking about kicking her out because of this little stunt. Actually, she was a little weirded out that Rosie applauded her tenacity for adventure and for opening the opportunity for the scouts to freshen up their wilderness rescue skills.

“And I suppose, I should hand out those survival skill sheets for the other things that might pop up. Especially if you saw a…. well, have a restful night girls.” She smiled and walked out. A second later, after working her mouth a few times, Jen let out a squawk and ran after their camp director.

“Rosie! Wait, what skill sheets-” they quickly fell out of earshot and Molly felt a frown form on her face. Just how unprepared were they? And if Rosie knew what that thing was, then why hadn’t she told them? In fact-

An arm wrapped itself around her shoulder and she jumped, before subconsciously leaning into the touch. Mal smiled and pulled her closer; handing her the full mug of cocoa Molly had yet to drink.

“Don’t worry about it Molls,” she said in a quiet soothing voice, draping a blanket over the both of them as Ripley, April, and Jo gathered close.

“Yeah, don’t sweat it. Whatever it was that you saw,” April said showing yet another version of her sketch of the creature to Molly and changing the hair based on her feedback, “we’ll figure out what it was, even if Rosie doesn’t tell us.” April held her diary up again, and Molly declared it was almost spot on before smiling.

“I know guys, it’s just, I still feel like…” an idiot, a screw up, not good enough for you all to think so highly of… She trailed off, the weight of her miserable regret too much to fully put into words for a moment. A gentle squeeze from Mal made her squeak, and then smile. Surrounding her, the supportive smiles and winks from her best friends made her thoughts clear a little and she sighed.

“Okay,” she simply said instead, “okay,” and let her friends take care of her. She might not believe every nice thing they ever say to her, or that the things she could contribute made any difference in their adventures, but she would think on that another day. Whether she wanted to or not.

Tonight, however, she would try to believe them, and not get so lost in the negativity of her own mind. She would let them take care of her. Molly could do that, she thought, if only for tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello fellow Lumberjanes fans! This is my first fic in the fandom, and also first spot on my Bad Things Happen Bingo card. I hope it delivered! XD Comments and Kudos are appreciated, and Friendship to the MAX!
> 
> Also... I will give ten points to anyone who can tell me who and what the critter Molly encounters is. :D


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